by Tim Green (Author)
Josh is still flying high from his team's tournament win at Coopers-town when his parents start talking about a divorce. Now his dad is challenging him to play the best of the best at the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. But does he just want to get Josh out of the way?
Two things are sure: His father's new girlfriend, Diane, is looking to change things, and Josh is determined to get her and her terrible son out of his life. With the help of Benji and Jaden, Josh races to get the facts that can keep his family together--but it's ever harder to concentrate on the game and make the winning plays that will lead his team to victory.
In his compelling style, Tim Green delivers great sports action and more--a fast-paced adventure about friendship, the power of becoming a team, and finding a way to get what you need when you can't have what you want.
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Gr 5-8—As this installment opens, Josh LeBlanc's father is in the process of abandoning his family for femme fatale Diane Cross. It is eventually revealed that he has also become involved in her sketchy gas-drilling lease operation, endangering future earnings from a lucrative Nike contract he secured in a previous book. Phenomenally talented Josh, meanwhile, has been chosen to join an all-star Little League team that he hopes to lead to the national championship. In a transparently artificial plot device, the 12-year-old is assigned Diane's son, Marcus Zamboni Cross, as a roommate. Zamboni is a nasty piece of work who taunts Josh, smokes cigarettes on the sly, and flicks boogers to express his disdain for the world at large. He undergoes a change of heart (and personality), however, when Josh gives him some tips on improving his game. Incredibly, Zamboni agrees to help unmask his divorced parents' plan to cheat Josh's father. While fans will enjoy the sports action and the interaction between Josh and series characters Jaden and Benji, they may well be put off by the adult themes.—Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.